Are you tired of popping painkillers to no end? Does your pain keep coming back despite meeting with several doctors? Then, you might seek help by visiting a pain management doctor.
A doctor who is an expert in pain management is specially qualified to analyze, treat, and control a variety of painful illnesses. Their expertise ideally deals with acute pain, chronic pain, and cancer pain.
Pain management doctors comprehend that pain is a complex issue that can include both physical and mental sides, which is why these doctors are specially prepared to address both factors. Their main priority is to guarantee their patients receive all-inclusive care for their pain-related fitness issues and needs.
Who Should See a Pain Management Doctor?
If you have a problem dealing with your pain post-treatment, or your pain isn’t going away after an accident or post-extensive surgery eve, anything else seems fine. In such cases, your doctor will likely advise you to visit the pain management doctor.
If you are dealing with any cases of unexplained and prolonged pain, or unfortunately undergoing cancer treatment and can’t seem to deal with the pain or discomfort that comes with the horrible therapies. In that case, you should consult a pain specialist instead of relying solely on painkillers.
Furthermore, if you or anyone you know are suffering from any case of herniated discs or any kind of spinal injury, consulting a pain specialist might help you find an explanation and, hopefully, a solution to your pain if nothing else seems to be working. A specialist who is an expert in dealing with pain can also help you manage your migraine headaches cluster pain and even help you overcome and manage sciatica pain.
But before you consult a pain specialist, understand that they cannot magically make your pain go away. If they feel that your pain issue is not in their area of expertise, they might refer you to another medical specialist.
What is the ideal time to see a Pain Management Doctor?
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms or conditions that we have mentioned below, then it is advisable to consult a pain medicine or management doctor right away:
- If you are having any back pain, neck pain, lower back pain, or any kind of pain that radiates down to your hips, legs, and feet,
- If your skin is shiny over the painful area, and that area has become hypersensitive to temperature, it is also accompanied by burning pain;
- If you are experiencing any kind of joint tenderness, overall muscle pain, stiffness in your body, and fatigue,
- Hand or wrist pain that worsens when you try to use that affected hand to grip or hold something.
- Hot, burning, and tingling sensation that travels to your body extremities such as your feet, toes, hands, or fingers.
- If you have any jaw pain that also radiates down to your neck and up to your face while talking and hinders your chewing or biting food,
- If you are experiencing stabbing or shooting pain in your head, which can include both your face and neck. This pain can also be accompanied by a sense of throbbing, squeezing, or sharp stabbing head pain supplemented by visual disturbances and nausea;
- If you are a cancer patient and have a problem dealing with the pain that comes with extensive cancer therapy,
- If they are feeling any recurring pain even after recovering from an illness, injury, or invasive surgery.
What should you expect when you visit a Pain Management Doctor?
When you go to see a pain management doctor, they will evaluate your pain in the following ways:
- The doctor will assess your complete medical history, request any necessary tests and blood work, and evaluate the results.
- A pain management doctor will typically perform a complete physical examination in order to assess and comprehend your physical issue fully.
- The doctor might ask you to answer some pain questionnaires and then evaluate the answers.
- Along with routine medical tests, the pain specialist might also order imaging exams, neurologic exams, and even muscle and nerve studies if they suspect something serious.
- The doctor can also prescribe you certain alternative medications other than painkillers that will help you deal with pain. They can also perform therapeutic injections and even administer nerve blocks.
- If the doctors see it’s necessary, they can even refer you to an appropriate surgeon or other medical specialist.
What kind of medicines will the Pain Management Doctor prescribe you?
Ideally a pain specialist will use a methodological approach to help treat your pain and will try to select the safest medicine, which preferably has the least number of side effects that can help to provide the best relief for your specific type of pain. The treatment approach that your doctors follow may vary depending entirely on your specific issue and the root cause of your pain. For more severe cases where a patient’s pain is not being managed easily, a pain management doctor might recommend a combination of treatments, such as physical therapy, psychotherapy, or some kind of exercise to help you manage the pain. Administering pain medicine may not always be recommended or even necessary. However, there are various medications available that help to deal with pain, which include over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and prescription drugs such as muscle relaxants and anesthetics, etc.
Conclusion
If you feel like you are suffering from pain that doesn’t seem to be going away despite taking painkillers, then paying a pain management doctor might be your only option. Pain management doctors are specialists who are in dealing with all kinds of pain. These specially trained doctors understand that pain is a difficult thing to deal with. You need to understand that pain can have both physical and mental reasons for manifesting; thus, you will try to provide all-inclusive care to best deal with your issue.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with any chronic pain conditions or even cancer pain. In that case, you should certainly consult a professional pain medicine or management doctor for a more accurate diagnosis and extensive treatment choices, which can help you handle your pain and enhance your overall quality of life.
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